A New Coat for Anna

Written
by Harriet Ziefert  Illustrated by Anita Lobel

Reviewed by EN (age 7) and MF (age 9)

Anna's mom promised that after the war she will get her a new coat. But, when the war ended, all of the stores were closed. They didn't have any money, so Anna's mother thought that trading was a good idea. So, they went to a small farm and traded their watch for wool from the farmer's sheep so that they could make a new coat. Another day, they went to a wise old lady, and traded their lamp for some yarn to make the coat. Anna and her mother also went into the deep woods and gathered lingonberries, which they boiled and used to dye the coat. Read this book to find out what color Anna's new coat turns out to be.

We enjoyed this book because it was funny, like when Anna told a soldier to give her money. Our favorite part was when they had no food so they had to grow their food from seeds. We did not like the illustrations because they were too foggy and kind of boring.

Whoever likes to get a new coat would like this book, because it's all about making a coat. Other second graders would enjoy this book because the words are not too hard. Adults would also enjoy it because they might like to know how to make a coat.